Island



(No Model.)

B. W. NEWTON. CAN OPENER.

No. 434,676. Patented Aug. 19, 1890.

.TV/4////A 7 WITNESSEE. INVINTUHI UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT W. NEWTON, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

CAN-OPENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 434,676, dated August 19, 1890- Application filed July 2, 1890. Serial No. 357,538. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT W. NEWTON, of Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Can Openers; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specifica tion.

This invention refers to the class of canopeners in which a cutter-knife is secured to a handle the forward end of which is provided with a fulcrum; and it consists in providing the fulcrum with a serrated bearingface and the handle with a yielding stop and with a loop, aswill be more fully set forth hereinafter.

Figure lis a perspective View of my improved can-opener, shown in connection with a can. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the forward end of the handle, showing the manner of securing the knife and the yielding-stop.

In the drawings, the number 4 indicates a can, and 5 the cutter-blade provided with'the shank 6, which has three successive dovetail enlargement-s forming serrated edges. The shank of the blade is cast into the end 7 of the handle 8, which is formed with the opening 9, or it may be made solid. From the rear of the handle 8 the bar 10 curves-downward below the handle and connects with the forward end 7, so as to form a loop large enough to receive the fingers of the hand in using the can-opener and'protect the fingers against contact with the ragged edges of the cut tin, of the can, which project upward, owing to the upward motion of the cutterblade 5.

In cutting the tin of a can with the canopeners of this class as heretofore constructed considerable forward pressure has to be eX- erted to hold the fulcrum against slipping backward when the handle is depressed. To prevent this, I provide the fulcrum 11 with the transverse serrations or teeth 12, which, bearing on the ragged edges of the cut tin, secure a firm hold on the same. When the handle of the can-opener has been depressed until the bar 10, forming the protecting-loop, has touched the can,the can-opener has to be moved forward and the rear of the handle raised. To facilitate these movements, I secure back of the fulcrum 11 the yielding-stop 13, consisting of the pin 14, the lower end of which has a rounded head of larger diameter than the pin, the upper end having the shank 15, surrounded by the spiral spring 16. The shank and spring of this yielding stop-pin 14 are inserted into the hole 17 The upper end of the shank extends through a hole of less diameter than the hole 17 and is secured to the washer 18. The head or stop 13 liinlts the upward motion of the stop-pin, which motion is resisted by the spiral spring, and the washer 18 limits the downward motion.

In practice I find that the stop materially facilitates the use of the can-opener. When the handle is depressed,the gradually-increasingresistance guides the hand, and when the downward force ceases the handle is bod1ly raised upward. The cutting-edge in contact with the tin of the can becomes the fulcrum on which the handle turns. The fulcrum 11 is raised off from the ragged edges of the cut tin, and the usual and natural motion of the hand operating the can opener, which at that time is supported on the rounded head of the yielding stop 13, moves the can-opener forward and the cutter blade downward, greatly facilitating the opening of the can, particularly in the hands of ladies or servants having only occasional use for a canopener. I prefer to extend the fulcrum 11 laterally beyond the metal of the forward portion of the handle, as is shown in Pig. 1.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The herein described can opener, the same consisting of the cutter-blade 5, the fulcrum 11, the spring-pressed stop 13, the handle 8, and the bar 10, constructed to form a loop for the protection of the hand, as described.

2. In a can-opener, the combination, with the handle 8 and the cutter-blade 5, of the transversely-serrated fulcrum 11, and the yielding stop 13, consisting of the pin 14, t shank 15, coiled spring 16, and washer 18, as and for the purpose described.

ROBERT \V. NEVVTON.

Witnesses:

J. A. MILLER, J 1 M. F. BLIGH. 

